The victim of a paedophile care home boss facing a life sentence has told of the terror he suffered at his hands.

Stephen Fong, 50, says he was left bloodied and bruised by “father figure” John Allen after being moved to his care home as an 11-year-old in 1975.

Hotelier Allen, 73, has been convicted of sexually abusing 19 children who lived in his string of care homes and warned he faces a life sentence at Mold Crown Court on Monday.

Wrexham gym-owner Mr Fong, who maintains he was physically rather than sexually abused by Allen, said: “The physical, verbal and mental abuse was horrific.”

Mr Fong, who classes himself as a “survivor” rather than a victim, added: “He was like a father figure, but he turned out to be a monster – a Jekyll and Hyde. Being a 10 or 11 year-old kid and being physically abused – punched, kicked or smashed around an office, a bedroom or a hallway – was the norm.”

Stephen Fong, a victim of John Allen, pictured as a child

The predatory paedophile had no care qualifications when he set up a company named Bryn Alyn Community in 1968, which went on to become a highly profitable group of 11 homes for children.

Many of the complainants, who were vulnerable at the time, said they felt no-one would believe their word against Allen, who was said to be intelligent, charismatic and articulate.

Mr Fong, who was placed in care as a ward of court as a six-week old baby, is originally from Liverpool and endured the kind of abuse in one of the city’s care homes he would later suffer at the hands of Allen.

He said his teenage years were marred by drug abuse when he turned to cannabis, heroin and sniffing glue to help him cope with the memories of his time in care.

But meeting 43-year-old wife Kathryn, 26 years ago was the moment that turned his life around.

Mr Fong, who with his wife has two daughters Paris, 23, Chanel, 21, and a son Leion, 13, added: “Maybe I’m a little bit stronger, but it’s my wife and my kids and friends around me. Maybe if I didn’t have that I’d be in a (worse) position that other survivors are in now.”

North Wales Police Custody Image of John Allen, former children's home boss

One of Allen’s victims said the defendant ruled the homes with “an iron fist” as both staff and residents were “scared stiff of him”.

Most of the abuse between 1969 and 1990 took place at three homes – Bryn Alyn, Pentre Saeson and Bryn Terion.

Allen was found guilty of 27 indecent assaults, one count of indecency with a child and six other serious sexual assaults.

He was cleared of two other serious assaults.

The jury could not reach verdicts on three counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child.

During his trial the court heard Allen was convicted in 1996 of indecently assaulting six boys, aged between 12 and 16, at his care homes in the 1970s. He was jailed for six years following an investigation into claims of abuse at various children’s homes in North Wales.

In the same year the Waterhouse Inquiry was launched to look at the issue of abuse of children in care in the Gwynedd and Clwyd areas and was later published in 2000.

John Ernest Allen arrives at Mold Crown Court

Further complainants then came forward in November 2001 and Allen was charged with “serious sexual allegations” relating to a number of boys.

But the case did not proceed because of a technicality which does not exist today.

It is understood a crown court judge ruled that Allen would not receive a fair trial because of previous publicity about his convictions.

Just one of the present complainants gave evidence to High Court judge Sir Ronald Waterhouse and most came forward due to the National Crime Agency’s ongoing Operation Pallial inquiry into historical sexual abuse at care homes in North Wales.

Allen also gave evidence to the Waterhouse Inquiry but continued to deny any wrongdoing.

In July 2013 a damning report which revealed “extensive” child abuse in North Wales care homes was finally published – 17 years after it claimed police officers and other professionals could have been identified as potential “perpetrators of assaults”.

The Jillings Report was compiled in 1996 but its publication was blocked by the former Clwyd County Council because insurers feared compensation claims.

Mrs Justice Macur is conducting an independent review to examine whether some allegations of abuse were not covered by the Waterhouse Inquiry.

Officers from Operation Pallial have so far investigated allegations made by 236 people since its launch in 2012.

A total of 120 people have been named as potential suspects, although a number of those are believed to be dead.

Thirty-five people have been arrested or interviewed under caution, with 13 charged.